


the choices we took haunt us forever

by magma_maiden



Category: Black Panther (2018), Naruto
Genre: Gen, all lowercase
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-01 03:45:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13989783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magma_maiden/pseuds/magma_maiden
Summary: [ there's a weird floating old man among the past kings of wakanda ]





	the choices we took haunt us forever

**Author's Note:**

> black panther (c) marvel  
> naruto (c) masashi kishimoto
> 
> i take no profits from this work.
> 
> non linear. two povs.

**i**

> in the djalia, a realm where myriads of nightlike colors swam, sat an oddity. a speck of dust amidst the spears, animal skins, marula trees and panthers. the alien figure stayed outside the circle made by his ancestors, observing from afar.
> 
> "you're a good man with a good heart. and it's hard for a good man to be king."
> 
> t'challa couldn’t forget those eyes, even after eons passed.
> 
> where did he meet that figure?

 

**ii**

> the fall felt like an eternity.
> 
> screams of her sister and mother and nakia and many, many of his people faded far above as the mists and water droplets surrounded him, clothed him—
> 
> _ he lost, isn’t he? _
> 
> the roaring waterfall faded too, eventually, and he was left with silence, the echoes of erik’s roar as he threw his body past the ledge.
> 
> _ he can’t be king. _
> 
> _ neither can he. _
> 
> he couldn’t leave wakanda in erik’s hands; the fate of his family now in a limbo— nakia and shuri should’ve helped his mother away….
> 
> the darkness embraced him.
> 
> maybe what he felt the whole time, in his whole life until he stepped into wakandan soil— 

 

**iii**

> the warmth of his father’s grasp left him. trees, panthers, and kings faded from his view like images of a broken television. the djalia morphed into a vast, pitch-black space. he was alone--or so he thought, until he turned around, and his heart nearly stopped.
> 
> “i’ve seen you.”
> 
> “you did,” the other occupant of that room replied.
> 
> “i meant in the djalia,” t'challa said, but at the same time the sentence tasted so wrong in his mind. “who—” he stopped, watching his own palms and the mirror-like water upon which he stood.
> 
> he had been here before. he had seen this person before.
> 
> the elderly person floated half a meter above the water. his pale brown skin was covered in wrinkles, and two horn-like bones protruded from his forehead. the most appalling feature of his appearance was his eyes. purple, with dark ripples around the pupils.
> 
> t'challa of wakanda had seen gods and aliens, but never anyone who resembled this person.
> 
> “i am here to hear your answer this time.”
> 
> what answer? t'challa had something else to say. “father should’ve brought him back. here, to wakanda. erik could’ve been raised with me and shuri— all of this would never happen!” he had asked all of this to his father, just moments ago, but this person needed to hear him.
> 
> he’s not even a wakandan citizen, yet he bore a presence resembling a royalty.
> 
> t'challa was tempted to kneel—no, to let this alien touch his head like his father used to.
> 
> _ father. _
> 
> “i need to return,” t'challa raised his face, staring straight into his purple and rippled eyes. “wakanda needs me. i can’t let erik endanger my people.”
> 
> “are you going to kill him?”

 

**vi**

> “are you going to let them die!?”
> 
> erik’s roar echoed past the battle between them, past the dora milaje and border tribesmen ready to slit each other’s throats.
> 
> "y'all're sitting up here all comfortable. must feel good. there's about two billion people around the world who look like us and their lives are a lot harder. wakanda has the tools to liberate them all."
> 
> _ erik, stop. there are better ways— _
> 
> claws clashed, armored arms against arms, and his mask unfurled to show him sneering, “what’s the matter, cousin? cat got your tongue?”
> 
> he kicked his stomach, sending t'challa flying down a hill. the scorching midday sun blazed past his habit, drenching him in sweat. that’s strange. his sister was meticulous…
> 
> the mines.
> 
> “you’re just worsening the war outside!” t'challa found his voice back once they were away from his people, bringing his opponent deeper into the earth. “this is not how wakanda deal with wars!”
> 
> “this is how  _ i _ deal with wars, cousin! they didn’t call me killmonger for nothing!”

 

**iv**

> “you heard him. he killed in many parts of your world; your brethren and others.”
> 
> erik didn’t just kill them; he wore their fallen numbers like a badge of honor. all of those people, dead just so he could kill him.
> 
> “if we kill, and kill, and kill…” t'challa took a step forward, the water underneath rippled. “eventually we will be the only ones in this earth. we will destroy every nations, every continents. humans, animals and plants… all dead.” he clenched his fist, his nails digging into his palm. “wakanda will be no more. so are other nations.”
> 
> “what about him?”

 

**vii**

> erik was unstoppable.
> 
> the more kicks and punches they exchanged, the more he understood what made erik stevens into killmonger. the hatred, the vengeance, the screams his cousin held that never made it out.
> 
> “the world took everything away from me! everything i ever loved!”
> 
> when t'challa lost t'chaka, he had his family, acquaintances, and wakanda. when erik lost n’jobu, he only had an empty apartment and tales of home he never known.
> 
> but t'challa was an adult. erik stevens was a boy. he could stop the boy, but not this vengeful man.
> 
> _ it’s hard for a good man to be king. _

 

**v**

> “i will not tell you what you should do.”
> 
> "but you watched!" t'challa approached; his anger was rising, draped in desperation. "you watched us killing our own kin—how many years? how many times?"
> 
> the alien being closed his eyes. "your time is up, son of wakanda."
> 
> then t'challa rose from the ice to the faces of his mother and sister and nakia.

 

**viii**

> wakanda was landlocked.
> 
> the last traces of sunset hadn't left the plains when a small boat was dragged past the roaring waterfall, housing the lifeless body of erik stevens.
> 
> t'challa watched, alone, listening to erik's roar in his memory.
> 
> his body might decay, but his views wouldn't.
> 
> as he faced his council the next morning, he made a decision.
> 
> t'challa needed to become more than a king.

 

**ix**

> "i want to know your answer this time."
> 
> "aren't you happy knowing that my choice is once again wrong, old man?"


End file.
